I Can Do That Too
by dorcas
Summary: My thoughts on how the Leo and Raph rivalry started out. Pretty short, I guess, but to the point.


**Disclaimer: **I do not profit from writing about TMNT. Darn, and I need the money for comics too...

Hello anyone who wants to read this! This fic is about the rivalry between Raph and Leo and how I think it all started. I've wanted to do this, but couldn't think of anything to start it, I mean, the real climax. Actually, I'm making this up as I go along so no flames please unless it's critical advice.

**I CAN DO THAT**

"All right, that's enough meditating. Now we'll spar." Splinter looked at his four sons and quickly decided who would spar with who. "Leonardo with Donatello, and Raphael with Michelangelo."

Each turtle looked at his opponent for the day, sizing up, remembering weaknesses, then heading over to the mats. Master Splinter never allowed them to use real weapons; that would be too dangerous. Besides, they were only 6, much too young, so they had to use wooden ones-- but even those had to be padded. A wooden spoon or Master Splinter's staff across the palms hurt bad enough, which they had gotten to know from experiance.

As soon as Splinter said so, they started.

Leo waited for the first move against him, which wasn't going to come for a while knowing his younger brother. Don had been thinking throughout the day about this part of the training day and thought he'd figured out how to get the advantage in the fight. He'd known that Leo would wait for the first move, so he went ahead and let him have it, charging and swinging his padded bo low to the knees. Leo was surprised, but jumped out of the way. A split second late, and he would be on the floor. Clearly he wasn't the olny one who'd done some studying. Oh well, he'd just have to work harder.

Mikey was trying to negotiate with his adversary in vain. Ducking under a sideways swing of Raph's arm, he chuckled nervously. "C'mon Raph," he pleaded, "if you don't beat me up too hard I might let you have the remote!" _Swish, _just to the left of his arm. "I swear!"

Raph grunted. "Yeah right. Fer how long, anyway?"

"Uh, the rest of the day?" _Fwap, _a blow to his shoulder. "Ow! Darn these dumb sticks!"

From the other side of the room he heard Don's defensive reply, "They're not sticks for the last time they are BOs. How many times do I have to tell you?" Then a sharp smack was heard. "Ow Leo watch where you swing it!"

His leg stinging from the blow, Don brought his own staff down toward Leo's head. Leo dodged and waited again. Don was getting tired of this, but he tried again for the legs. As he expected, Leo jumped, so he quickly swung upward and heard a satisfying "Oof!" Ah, so his older brother could actually be hit. Now to see if he could actually be beaten. Instead of his bo, he kicked for the stomach, but Leo hopped backwards.

Now to try something different. Leo placed his bo down on the ground and ran to his Don, delivering a stunning kick to the chest and landing without falling back on his butt on the floor. Don stumbled, looking dazed, and fell flat on his back. When he sat up he rubbed his head. _Aw man, _he thought, _well, at least this match seemed to last longer than yesterday's. _He looked up and saw Leo looking worried. "I'm sorry I got you so hard; I didn't think of how hard I was doing it actually." He helped Don up and apoligized again.

Master Splinter walked over and congatulated Leo. "Well done," he said with a smile. "That was very good."

Raph heard. Again, he'd won the match against Mikey in record time and had decided to watch Leo and Don spar. When he saw Leo deliver the midair kick, he had been just as surprised as everyone else, but less pleasently. Especially when Master Splinter had congatulated Leo. Whenever Raph won a match, all Master Splinter did was nod and smile. Why should Leo get to be the center of attention, again? He always was: When Splinter was gone, Leo was in charge. When it was time to go to bed, Leo seemed to go last. It even seemed like Leo didn't have to brush his teeth as often as everyone else. Raph crossed his arms and muttered. "Hmph. No big deal. I can do that." Either nobody heard him, or nobody cared.

Later on that night Raph was still thinking about the day's events when it was after dinner. _Leo might be good at ninjitsu, _he thought, _but if he can be a teacher's pet, than so can I. _Then he started doing the dishes. No one would ignore him now for doing such a good deed, right? And Splinter would be glad and happy with him because the dishes were out of the way. _This had better be worth it, _he thought as he scrubbed a very stubborn stain off a bowl.

He walked out of the kitchen proud of what he'd done. When Splinter went back into the kitchen he anticipated a very happy "oh!" or some other surprised exlaimation. But the rat walked out without a trace of a smile in his features.

What! _But- but... _This wasn't fair. He'd done something good, better than a stupid old kick, right? And no one had noticed! No, he would always be second best, under Leo. Nobody had seen, or nobody cared.

_Well, _he thought angrily, fighting back tears, _if they don't care, I'll make them care! _He got off of the couch and went to his room. Secretly, he went out the door.

He was topside. The sweet, yet wild feeling of freedom flowing through his veins, he had gotten away from the sewers and was on the roof of someone's house, just watching and observing. Oh, there was a homeless guy wandering the streets, asking for money and waving a sign. He had no hope, but he was still his own person, free to live his own life and do what he wanted. Maybe he would even make it some way.

Raph saw the park. He decided to go for a walk.

Splinter had brought a book to read to them, but couldn't find Raph. Leo volenteered to get him from his room. _He's probably just reading Mikey's comics or playing with Mikey's action figures. _"Raph, Master Splinter says we gotta-" But there was no Raph. He checked the bathroom. Nope, no Raph there. He walked over to the kitchen. Hmm, Raph wasn't there either. Where else would he be...? _Huh, what's this? _The dishes were clean. But he hadn't heard Master Splinter doing them. So how could they be...?

_Oh. _Maybe Raph had cleaned them but had figured it was stupid and decided to leave to go and brood. But that didn't explain anything. If he'd wanted to brood, Raph would

have gone to his room. So where else could he have gone where no one here could see him and he could be alone without interruption?

It hit him. Leo thought furiously, _he wouldn't dare go topside and put us all in danger, would he? He can't be that dumb! _...or maybe ignorant. Sometimes his brother didn't care what was going on around him. Well then, the olny thing left to do was to follow him. Leo checked to see what his family was doing, saw that they were occupied with something, and raced to the door. He had olny a second to think before he thought he saw Splinter turn, and ducked out of sight. Then he ran, looking for the nearest manhole to climb up.

He was going to find his brother. And then he was going to knock some sense into him.

_Huff. Huff. Huff. _Raph panted as he jogged around the fountain. It was dark enough so that it must be late, and no one else was there to see him. He'd rather do something than just sit there and think about doing something. Sure, it was pointless; an endless circle, around and around and around don't stop until you're tired. But it was doing something.

He was on his fifth lap when he saw someone coming. He skidded to a stop and looked around wildly. _Oh crud! I can't let them see me! _There! a big, wide tree he could hide behind. Maybe the person would follow him, but running was better than just standing there like there was a big neon sign above saying "Here stands open prey". Better start moving.

He made a mad dash for the tree. The figure stopped, then started running as well. He was almost there--made it. Too late! The figure was there, breathing heavily and sounding angry, but grabbing him by the shoulders and pinning him to the tree. Raph squirmed. _Huh? That's funny. It's almost as if this guy is the same size as me. And his hands... they feel like mine. _He looked down at his attacker's hands and gasped when he realized that they were green. _Oh no, _he thought with a sinking feeling. _I am sooo gonna get it._

"What," Leo growled, "the heck are you thinking!" Raph looked away. The best thing he could do is try to look guilty so that his brother would go easier on him. It always worked before... "I didn't think you were stupid, but maan did you find a good way to prove me wrong!" ...but obviously not this time.

He twisted his arms free and strode away, leaving Leo still talking. He could still hear his voice but not the words. He didn't really care what he was saying anyway. What did it matter? He was going to get a lecture from Master Splinter anyway; he didn't need another one from someone not in charge. Leo clamped his hand down on his arm. "Don't you dare walk away!"

He spun around, glaring. "Why should I take orders from you, huh? You ain't the boss of me!"

Master Splinter was getting worried. He was trying to calm down, but he couldn't. What in the world could his sons be doing that was taking them so long? He went and checked the rooms. Nothing. The bathroom. Nothing. Desperate, the kitchen. Noth- what? The dishes were clean, dry and put away. _Who could have done this? _he thought. _Who _would _have done this except for...attention. _

He whipped around and strode to the door. Wait! What about the other two? Don was responsible enough, but Michelangelo...

Don looked up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing," he answered hurredly. Then he sighed. "Both of you, come with me to find your brothers. I think they have gone somewhere they know they should not be."

Leo stood there rigid. What was going through his crazy brother's head now? Breathing heavily, he asked, trying to understand, "What do you mean?"

"Oh," his brother laughed sarcasticly. "No, of course Leo doesn't have an ounce of bad in him, nope, you're all good." He sneered. "You little suck-up!"

"What in the world are you talking about?" Now he was getting angry too. There was no need for name calling. Till now. "Dummy. I haven't done anything wrong, unlike you, and you point at me? For what?"

"For thinking you're oh-so-perfect!" Raph exploded, making Leo shrink back a bit. "Tryin' to make all the rest of us look bad, huh? Bein' a teacher's pet! Makin' sure Splinter's always lookin' at you and nowhere- nobody else! How do you think-" He hesitated, not wanting to tell the entire truth. If the truth went out, Leo would just laugh at him. "How do you think Don felt today, huh? Losing again as always because you don't give him a chance!"

"If he wants to beat me he'll have to work for it!" Leo snapped. "Just like I work for it every day! You guys are just lazy and self-centered!"

That did it. Raph pummled him to the ground, kicking and punching and screaming and making Leo scream too and fight back, turning it into a wrestling match. Limbs tangled, the two took some time to figure out where their own was. Raph was on top. He smacked Leo across the face twice. "Look who's talkin'!" He yelled, giving Leo time to push his legs under his belly and shove him off behind him. He got up and made a ready stance, waiting for his chance to hit in an open spot. Knowing how tempermental his brother could be, he got ready for a charge.

But Raph had observed the past fights. He knew what Leo was up to, so he did the same, folding his arms even. Leo raised an eyebrow. Okay, this was new. Now he either had to wait some more, or make the first move himself, and he was burning time. He went ahead and charged.

Raph delivered an upward punch(a\n:uppercut?) to his belly, holding his shell so he couldn't break free, and kept doing it until he flung him to the ground. He was sweaty and hot, but still wanted his point taken. "Ya think ya betta than all'a us now?" Then he turned toward home.

He was stopped by his brother's voice again. "Look who's talking now." He looked, and there Leo was, struggling to his feet, but grinning angrily. "Up till now you've been saying I think I'm better than all of you, but is that really what you mean? Who are you really defending?" He chuckled. "No, it's all about YOU, that's it. You are defending yourself, 'cause I must have forgotten, that's all that matters!"

"Shut up!"

"Why don't you shut up and think for once!" He yelled back. "Think about someone other than yourself!" He lunged and punched him, sending him reeling. But he wasn't done. He continued punching until it was a steady beating, nonstop. And when Raph was bleeding from the mouth, he backed up and ran anyway, jumping high and delivering the same kick he had done with Don. But this time it went to Raph's head.

Raph stumbled, shocked, his eyes rolling back into his head. And passed out.

Leo didn't realize what he'd just done until he saw his brother fall face down. "RAPH!" He ran to him and turned him over, asking himself what had happened and scrambling through his mind to figure out what to do. Then his eyes watered and he didn't try to stop them from falling. He fumbled for words. "I- I'm so-" He hung his head.

"Leonardo!"

"Leo!" He looked up. Uh oh. They were coming. How could he explain?

Splinter's uneasyness tripled when he saw Raph on the ground and his eldest son crying. He ran over and knelt. "What happened here?" Leo couldn't look him in the eye. "Leonardo, you will tell me when we are home." Then he picked Raph up, swung him over his shoulder and started home.

Leo closed his father's door softly and leaned on it. It had been hard, but he had gotten most of the truth out. He'd said that Raph was just walking around the park, staying out of sight when he found him. He said he'd grabbed Raph's arm and pulled, but Raph pulled away too quicky and hit his head on a sign, then passed out when Leo pulled him over behind the tree in case of someone coming by. But Leo had a feeling that his father knew the truth, by the disapointed look on his face and how he looked at him. Most likely his trembling voice betrayed him.

He headed to the room where they all slept in, on bunk beds. Raph and Mikey shared a bunk, with Raph on the bottom, which came to Splinter's advantage when tucking him in. Leo knelt by his brother and thought of something to say. Finally he whispered, "Raph? I know you're awake." No answer. This was getting uncomfortble. "Anyway, I wanted to say- about earlier- I'm... sorry." Silence. He sighed again, got up, and went to bed.

Raph turned over on his belly, his eyes open, and thought.

_A\N: This turned out much more dramatic, and much more short, than I expected, but still good I guess. I got the idea when someone accused me of being jealous of them and I got mad but can't do anything about it because if I dump their friendship I have no one anywhere but God. Jealousy is a horrible thing and don't let it screw up your relationships._

_...or you don't have to take a loser's advise and get on with your social lives. Preferable, yes? T T_


End file.
